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Fringe Dockers struggle to break into Fremantle senior line-up

Brad Elborough

Players striving to get a start in the Fremantle line-up have a job ahead of them at the moment.

Anthony Morabito, Colin Sylvia, Jon Griffin and Kepler Bradley are all players who have performed at the top level and are up and running in the Dockers reserves – biding their time for an opportunity to return to the senior side. And they will soon be joined by forward Scott Gumbleton.

But they currently have limited opportunities to impress the Dockers coaching staff at WAFL level.

While Fremantle’s players enjoyed a bye last weekend, so did its WAFL side, Peel Thunder.

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Unfortunately for the aforementioned players, the Thunder has another bye this weekend.

Dockers coach Ross Lyon agrees it is not ideal and that it could take players longer to force their way into the side.

While Morabito, Sylvia, Griffin and Bradley have been playing at state league level, Gumbleton, who moved to the Dockers from Essendon this season, has joined the training group for the first time since injuring a hamstring before round one.

“He's out there today," Lyon said. "He trained on Monday fully. He's progressing really well. He's showing great resilience to persist and get himself back.

“He should play in the next few weeks. We've got a challenge because Peel has got the double bye; we've got the bye, and they've got another bye. So it's not ideal.

“So the next time Peel play, he should be available. That's about three weeks.”

Gumbleton is expected to add some marking power to the Dockers line-up – an area identified as having room for improvement after losing last season’s grand final to Hawthorn by 15 points.

He appeared likely to play with the Dockers in round one, but the unlucky tall was sidelined before he could even start his campaign.

Gumbleton has played just 35 AFL games since debuting with the Bombers in 2007.

And Lyon says he is a long way from being an X Factor for the Dockers in the second half of the season.

“That X factor term – unbelievable feats on the footy field, maybe Cyril Rioli, Gary Ablett, Nat Fyfe, Sonny Walters; but Scott's got a bit of work to do before he becomes an X factor for us,” Lyon said.

“I think he's a player that will be available for selection. He's a tall forward. But he's got to force his way in.”

Peel’s fixtures should not stop Luke McPharlin from returning to the line-up for this week’s clash with the Western Bulldogs. The consistent defender has not played since the round seven win over West Coast because of a calf injury.